


shoulder to lean on

by DoctorFitzy (KittooningMalijah)



Series: we could put the poets to shame [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Fluff Bingo, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Light Angst, Male-Female Friendship, alex stop writing deke angst, no <3, we hate sequoia in this house
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:47:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27731785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittooningMalijah/pseuds/DoctorFitzy
Summary: Deke gets hurt and needs a ride to the hospital, and maybe a friend, too.
Relationships: Deke Shaw & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Sequoia/Deke Shaw (mentioned)
Series: we could put the poets to shame [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2015173
Comments: 8
Kudos: 19
Collections: Agents of Fluff 2020





	shoulder to lean on

**Author's Note:**

> Written for AgentsOfChallenges' Fluff Bingo 2020, square "snuggling"
> 
> this wasn't even the plan for this. this was supposed to be a staticquake meet cute and deke just took over. i'm so sorry.

"Deke, seriously?"

"Please? I can't drive like this, and you're the only person who's not working right now."

"Can't your girlfriend take you?" Daisy felt her sigh before it reached her own ears when the next sound that came through the phone was a barely audible mumble. Technically, she didn't have work that afternoon, but that didn't mean there weren't other things she wanted to do on her day off. "Deke, I can't hear you."

"She broke up with me again."

She could hear the dejected tone in his words, the reminder of the relationship that he stubbornly continued to get himself in and out of. "Of course she did. Okay, I'll be there in a bit. Are you at least okay?"

"I just called you to ask you drive me to the hospital because I did another stupid thing. What do you think?"

"I think you need a steady relationship so that you don't have to call me or any of our friends for a medical emergency whenever you're left alone for five minutes." She did her best to keep her tone light before sighing again, putting more concern into her words so he would know she had moved on from the teasing. "You're not bleeding, right? How bad is the pain? Do you think it's broken?"

"Um... it doesn't hurt as bad as the time I got tetanus. I don't know if that's a good point of reference."

"Yeah, we're just going to get you a babysitter."

-

It took her ten minutes to get to him, half an hour to get to the emergency room, and another hour before he got a room. Then, he insisted on her going back with him, as if he wasn't a fully grown adult who could handle himself around a doctor. With how many times he'd been to the emergency room since he'd joined their friend group, one would think he'd mastered the art of it.

"I'm gonna need a ride home, too. I'd call an Uber, but... I don't know if I could handle the stairs without help."

"I know, Deke. I'll stay and give you a ride home."

He flashed her a smile, the only sign that he needed to be there at all in the pain he managed to keep contained to his eyes. No one knew the details of his life in the future that might not be theirs, and no one really wanted to ask, but something about his expression told her that his trips to the emergency room were nothing compared to his past. 

She was about to open her mouth to speak again, to ask how he was doing, if he needed anything else, only to be interrupted by the door opening. Turning to face the doctor when he stepped in, Daisy was faced with someone who looked surprisingly  _ young.  _ He couldn't be much older than them, maybe Deke's age, and... kind of cute.

"I'm Dr. Campbell, and I'm the doctor on call this afternoon. So, Mr... Shaw, what seems to be the problem?" The doctor had a clipboard in hand, glancing between it and the man on the bed. "Besides from your fall from the roof, I mean."

Deke flashed him a grin, seeming to get more energetic with a bigger audience - it was better than retreating in on himself, like he used to. His time in the present had made him comfortable and, by extension,  _ louder. _ "Just the fall, doc. Didn't even hit my head, just a few scrapes and bruises. And, well, my ankle." He lifted his leg up onto the examination table to show off the slightly swollen joint above his foot. "What do you think? Ice, elevation, and rest?"

Dr. Campbell looked between Deke's face and his ankle for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Well, Douglas-"

_ "Deke." _ He cut in quickly to correct him, shaking his head. "I go by Deke. No one's called me by my legal name in years. Can we put that in my file, somewhere? I can't keep correcting doctors."

"Yeah, sure, I can make a note of it." He offered Deke a small smile before scribbling something onto his clipboard, presumably the aforementioned note. "So, Deke, I'm going to check out that ankle to make sure nothing's broken, and I want to treat some of your scrapes so they don't get infected, and I'm going to make sure you don't have any head injuries from the fall, just to be on the safe side."

Daisy shook her head from her spot a few feet away, watching her friend's shoulders drop in disappointment. "Sorry, Deke. It looks like we're going to be here for a while."

"But you're still my ride." He looked over at her with a frown. "You're staying, right?"

She offered up a small smile before nodding her head. "Of course. If I get too bored, I'll go get some coffee, or something."

Dr. Campbell stepped over to the table to inspect Deke's ankle, gently feeling the swollen spot with his fingers to make sure there were no obviously broken bones. "I don't feel anything out of place, but I'm going to order some x-rays so that we can be sure. For now, definitely keep your weight off of it, and we can get these scratches looked at while we wait for radiology to be available." 

Trying not to wince, Deke nodded and made his shoulders relax again, all of the tension in his back making his muscles ache. "I'm sure I'm fine. Can't we just do the quick version? You check my pupils to make sure I don't have a concussion, I promise not to screw around on the roof again, Daisy takes me home so I can rest up, and if anything feels worse I'll come back."

The words earned him a pointed look and his entire body seemed to sag again. "I don't think so. I'll get you patched up, and we can go from there."

-

Once it was just the two of them again, Daisy moved to sit on the edge of the bed by Deke's feet, shaking her head. He had bandages covering the worst of the scrapes on his elbows, and a warm blanket over his legs and his lap so that he wouldn't have to look at the swelling in his foot. He seemed shaken, which was never good, and she reached for his hand to give his fingers a squeeze.

"So, how did you fall off the roof and only get away with scrapes and bruises?"

"Because I didn't fall off the roof..." His voice was quiet while he sank into the pillows, not looking at her as a frown pulled at the corners of his mouth. "I was never even  _ on _ the roof."

With a frown of her own, Daisy shook her head and sat up straighter, confused. "Then why did you tell me and all of the doctors that you did? What actually happened? If you didn't fall, then how did  _ any  _ of this happen?"

Deke kept his eyes down, his gaze fixed on their hands instead of drifting anywhere near her face. "I... Sequoia broke up with me this morning, and I was trying to talk to her so that we could work things out, but we ended up getting into a fight..." His words trailed off into a whisper, and she had to lay down in the small space between him and the edge of the mattress to hear it. "I didn't fall off the roof. She shoved me, when things started getting heated, and I twisted my ankle and fell. I tried to catch myself, but I just ended up..."

"With scrapes and bruises," Daisy supplied for him, frowning and giving his hand another gentle, reassuring squeeze. "And you didn't tell the doctors about this, because...?"

"Because it's  _ stupid. _ I'm the loser from the future who doesn't understand modern relationships, so  _ of course  _ I end up in this one. Over and over again... my file got flagged, last time, when Nana and Bobo brought me in? When I got that black eye?" He took a deep breath before turning his head to look over at her, his voice still quiet. "I had to talk to a social worker, reassure them that I feel safe where I'm living, confirm that I'm not being beat up, and it's not like I  _ live  _ with her, you know...?"

She frowned and leaned over to kiss the side of his head, staying close to his side while she let go of his hand to drape an arm over his torso. They couldn't do much about the situation from the hospital room, but now she was even more sure of the bad feelings she'd always had about his on-again-off-again girlfriend. "You should spend a few nights at my place. I can pull out the couch and you can have your own space, and if she comes anywhere near you... well, I'll just quake her."

Deke coughed to hide a small laugh, shaking his head, while he leaned into her. There were only so many people in his life, and losing his girlfriend to any situation wasn't fun - but he had his friends, and his grandparents, and his  _ best friend,  _ even if half of their friendship was half teasing and annoying each other. "You don't have to do that, but thank you. Are we going to cuddle until I get my x-rays, or are you planning on moving?"

"I don't plan on moving if you don't want me to. Why?"

He shook his head again, shifting to slide his arm under her shoulders and gently tug her closer to his side. "No reason."


End file.
